The Bobcats have acquired guard Keith Bogans from the Orlando Magic in exchange for forward Brandon Hunter.

“Keith Bogans is the type of player who fits right into our philosophy of having long athletes who can play multiple positions and are strong defenders,” said Bobcats General Manager and Head Coach Bernie Bickerstaff. “He is versatile enough to guard opposing point guards or swingmen with equal success and has really worked on improving his offensive game.”

The 6-5, 215-pound guard was selected by Milwaukee with the 43rd overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft but was traded to Orlando on draft night. He appeared in 73 games as a rookie with averages of 6.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 24.5 minutes. Bogans started 36 games and his production increased to 8.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists in those contests.

In preseason action this fall, he averaged 3.0 points and 1.2 rebounds in 10.0 minutes in helping the Magic to a 4-3 record. This summer, Bogans averaged 24.0 points and shot .590 from the field with Orlando’s entry in the Las Vegas Summer League.

Bogans completed his four-year career at University of Kentucky ranked fourth on the all-time scoring list with 1,923 points, behind only former NBA standouts Dan Issel, Kenny Walker and Jack Givens. He won Southeastern Conference Player of the Year honors as a senior at Kentucky and was a McDonald’s and Parade All-American as a senior at legendary DeMatha High School.

“We believe Brandon will be a contributor in this league in the right situation,” Bickerstaff said. “We have quality depth at the forward position and we weren’t sure about Brandon’s opportunity for minutes.”

Hunter was chosen by the Bobcats in the Expansion Selection on June 22 from Boston, where he played his rookie season in 2003-04. The 6-7, 260-pound forward averaged 3.2 points and 2.8 rebounds in six games for Charlotte this preseason and Hunter averaged 3.5 points and 3.3 rebounds in 36 games with the Celtics last season.